Chapter 7
1When I heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim will be exposed, as well as the crimes of Samaria. For they practice deceit and thieves break in; bandits raid in the streets. 2But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face. 3They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies. 4They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough. 5The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him. 6For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. 7All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings fall; not one of them calls upon Me. 8Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is an unturned cake. 9Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not know. 10Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the LORD their God; despite all this, they do not seek Him. 11So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove— calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria. 12As they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like birds of the air. I will chastise them when I hear them flocking together. 13Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me. 14They do not cry out to Me from their hearts when they wail upon their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine, but turn away from Me. 15Although I trained and strengthened their arms, they plot evil against Me. 16They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
Chapter 8
1Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law. 2Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!” 3But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him. 4They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction. 5He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6For this thing is from Israel— a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria. 7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up. 8Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel. 9For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers. 10Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes. 11Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning. 12Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange. 13Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt. 14Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.
Chapter 9
1Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor. 2The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them. 3They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. 4They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD. 5What will you do on the appointed day, on the day of the LORD’s feast? 6For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents. 7The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived— let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility. 8The prophet is Ephraim’s watchman, along with my God, yet the snare of the fowler lies on all his paths. Hostility is in the house of his God! 9They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins. 10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved. 11Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception. 12Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them! 13I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a meadow. But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter. 14Give them, O LORD— what will You give? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that dry up! 15All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. 16Ephraim is struck down; their root is withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay the darlings of their wombs. 17My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
Chapter 10
1Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars. 2Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars. 3Surely now they will say, “We have no king, for we do not revere the LORD. What can a king do for us?” 4They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field. 5The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn over it with its idolatrous priests— those who rejoiced in its glory— for it has been taken from them into exile. 6Yes, it will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be seized with shame; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols. 7Samaria will be carried off with her king like a twig on the surface of the water. 8The high places of Aven will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” 9Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity? 10I will chasten them when I please; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bondage for their double transgression. 11Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh; but I will place a yoke on her fair neck. I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, and Jacob will break the hard ground. 12Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain. 13You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men, 14the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children. 15Thus it will be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day dawns, the king of Israel will be utterly cut off.